The team behind this is world-class. Among other things, they have developed a python library that could be used to model contrails in your own projects.

https://py.contrails.org

....at best :( - more in certain universities.

If the gym is sufficiently simple and well-coded, achieving a simulation speed of 367,920x real-time (simulating 42 years in one hour) is plausible. The question is whether these simulated scenarios genuinely reflect 42 years of real-world driving experience and truly represent the information that a single agent has at its disposal when making driving decisions.

It really depends on the subject matter and the institution's focus (and tier). For disciplines where foundational knowledge remains relatively unchanged (say, Latin) recorded lectures could be an efficient way to disseminate information without requiring professors to repeat the same material. A "flipped classroom" would offer opportunities for more dynamic interaction and deeper understanding, and of course this would cost money.

However, as a professor myself in a rapidly evolving STEM field adjacent to AI, I update at least 20% of my course materials each year to keep pace with new developments. As it happens, about a third of the new content is derived from my research group's latest work. Recording lectures isn't a one-time effort; it would require constant updates to remain relevant (and let me tell you, if you want to get the voice-over right, it is a lot more time-consuming and soul-crushing than simply turning up in class and giving a live lecture).

The value of live lectures goes beyond just "transmitting" content. They offer real-time interaction, immediate feedback, and dynamic discussions that adapt to the students' understanding. This level of interaction devilishly difficult to replicate in recorded formats.

I would ramble on more, but I need to return to the lecture materials I am developing for this Friday on Vision-Language Models :P

Hmm - too broad a statement. Teaching load varies - it can be as low as 3 hours per week concentrated in a single term.

Recalling certain candidates that I have interviewed over the years, I'd say it is spot on!

> Also congestion based pricing strategies have never reduced traffic anywhere they've been implemented. Go ask London.

Wrong.

Source: I am a transport engineer. In London.

According to INRIX, London is more congested than ever and it's so unpopular that 66% of residents voted against expanding the program and that very proposal is what sunk the Labour party in last year's by-elections.

Also London's public transit infrastructure is lightyears better than NYC's and way better managed. This whole pricing scheme is just to shore up the MTA which is massively wasteful with money and never gets any of its projects done on time (by decades).

a) You are confusing a congestion charge zone (CCZ) with an emissions charge zone (ULEZ) which specifically targets vehicles that do not comply with the latest emissions standards. These are two separate schemes, with different objectives. It is the later that was linked with Labour's by-election failures, in the very outer boroughs that have fairly poor public transport.

b) The INRIX scorecard is citywide. Assuming that they went with the conventional definition of "London", ie. whatever lies inside M25, this is an area of 1579 km2. The Congestion charge zone has an area of 21 km2, which is about 1.3% of the total.

Also, the Greek islands will have a different timezone from the Greek mainland? This must be a joke.

That must be an error, there's no way.

Well, there does exist a fixed pay scale for base salaries, but for senior academic grades in many occasions this simply defines the minimum salary, and the rest is negotiable (particularly if the academic has a good record of obtaining research grants).

Then again, there exist Business Schools, where due to the different funding model (most income comes from MBAs, as opposed to research grant overheads, and undergraduate tuition fees), full professors can easily make near-£200k in base salary.

Even with a salary of 200k per year, it's unlikely they will be able to afford a 2 or 3 bedroom flat in South Kensington. According to Zoopla/Foxtons, the average price is around 2M.

Imperial, on the whole, is one of the better-paying Universities in the UK, and certain Departments are able to provide considerable supplements upon base salaries.

The vast majority of academics with families live in the outer zones in London, or commute by rail from the suburbs just outside. London has a very dense and efficient public transport network, and therefore a typical commute time is around 40 minutes, and in most cases less than 1hr.

The price of accomodation remains an issue with younger academics, who arrived in London after the housing booms (1st surge around 2004, 2nd around 2010). Consultancy, enterpreneurship etc do provide good additional income streams for many, and therefore it still all makes sense.

More recently Imperial has been developing some of its own accomodation for junior staff and graduate students, which is made available at subsidised rates.